"What else can he do?" - Gary Neville, Ian Wright, and Roy Keane slam penalty decision in FIFA World Cup semifinal

ITV Sports pundits Gary Neville, Ian Wright, and Roy Keane all felt that Argentina's penalty against Croatia in their 2022 FIFA World Cup semi-final shouldn't have been awarded.

La Albiceleste beat the Vatreni 3-0 to advance into Sunday's showpiece clash where they face either France or Morocco.

Messi broke the deadlock for Argentina from the penalty spot in the 34th minute before Julian Alvarez netted twice to put the game beyond Croatia, whose dream of reaching consecutive FIFA World Cup finals was put to rest.

Was this a penalty for Argentina or not?

#FIFAWorldCup #Qatar2022onMG https://t.co/QeDv67aB4t

However, that penalty decision has polarized opinions online, with many feeling that it was a bit harsh on Zlatko Dalic's side.

Alvarez ran through on goal and made an attempt in desperation as Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic raced to clear, but the latter ended up running into him and bringing him down.

The referee pointed to the penalty spot without hesitation. Neville, Wright, and Keane, however, weren't impressed and felt it shouldn't have been awarded.

ARGENTINA ARE WORLD CUP FINALISTS! 🇦🇷🏆 https://t.co/UCarkOi5wC

Neville began by saying (via Mirror):

“No (it should not have been a penalty), not at all. We’re right above it here, this angle is a little further away but the ‘keeper comes out, he basically just makes a movement to his right, stops himself before the actual shot is about to be taken and Alvarez just runs into him and takes his leg away.

“This is not a penalty. What else can he do? He has to make that motion to try and save the ball, he plants his feet. If he’d carried on running out and taken out Alvarez then fair enough, but he stops before it and I don’t know if that’s a penalty.”

Wright agreed, saying:

“When you look at it, the centre forward, he’s actually mis-kicked it to be honest. If he hits it and it goes into the goal, the goalkeeper can’t do anything like you say, he’s stopped.

“Alvarez miskicks it, it’s not going into the goal, the goalkeeper can’t do anything else but stand his ground and he runs into him. The referee didn’t have a look, I can’t understand it.”

'I don't think it's a penalty' says Keane about Argentina's opening goal of the 2022 FIFA World Cup semi-final

After Neville and Wright made their thoughts known that Argentina's penalty in the 2022 FIFA World Cup semi-final was an incorrect decision, Keane, too, concurred, saying (via Mirror):

“Poor defending overall to let him get a run in on goal, but I agree with the lads I don’t think it’s a penalty, where else are you supposed to go?”

Either way, Lionel Messi was happy to take the spot kick and smashed one into the top corner, sending Argentina on their way to the 2022 FIFA World Cup final.